Someone I Used to Know - By Blakney Francis Page 0,95

was curious, but I wasn’t stupid. Asking Adley how her day was could be a dangerous move, I wasn’t about to go sticking my nose in her family issues. Nuh uh. No, thank you. Not gonna happen.

“Please, if you don’t believe me just go and tell her I’m here. She’ll tell you who I am,” he pleaded in a raspy, beaten down voice. There was something familiar in his voice; something that I could have only ever learned from hearing Adley speak; something that tugged at the weakest part of me.

Damn it, Thomas. I really hope you don’t get me castrated.

***

I found Adley tucked behind Alfred, taking advantage of his cloaking shadow, while Madeline signed autographs and posed for photos with a passing tour group. Her arms were crossed and chin tucked downwards in her best attempt to go unnoticed. I might’ve teased her, accusing her of having a phobia of fanny packs, but unlike most people, she had a real reason to fear a crowd.

I had seen her upset and I had seen her angry – furious even – but nothing had frightened me like the look on her face after the paparazzi had nearly pulled her apart. With skinned knees and bleeding, raw hands, the navy in her eyes had sparked with something wild and skittish. It reminded me of my mother’s horses; they got that same look just before they panicked and did something stupid, like bolt.

Her fear fed rage into my bloodstream. I’d wanted to bash their heads in with their own bloody cameras. I wanted to taunt and torture them until they felt helpless and terrified just like she had. Alfred had been the one to stop me, and his daily presence with her, ready to act as unofficial protector if needed, was a huge comfort.

She would’ve never let me protect her. Even showing concern was out of the question. My ridiculous little sheila.

Forgetting Madeline and Adley weren’t the only commodities on set, I barged into the fray. Squeals and exclamations exploded like I’d choreographed the entrance, and instinctively, I looked towards Adley, hoping to catch her having the same thought. I missed the annoyed little crease that sprouted between her brows when I did something she found particularly insufferable.

She wasn’t even looking at me though. Alfred had moved closer to Madeline, protectively, after my disturbance, and Adley shuffled after him like a child hiding behind her father’s legs. The vulnerability of it drew a scowl across my face as I finally got her attention and pulled her away before she could protest.

“What are you doing, you brute?” She jerked her arm, trying to free it, but her feet never fought my lead. It was a promising start.

I didn’t answer, not yet. I had to be careful – delicate – as to how the situation played out. First, we needed to lose the audience, and after that…well, I hadn’t gotten that far yet. I went to the most abandoned place I could think of. I liked to think of the area as a neighborhood, but really it was just a quiet row where the top billed cast could retreat to their trailers.

Adley made a small noise that sounded suspiciously like a giggle, and I wheeled around confused and – frankly – a bit scared. Her knowing grin made me even more nervous.

“A few days without getting laid and you’re reduced to a caveman, Mr. Davies,” she said with a sassy quirk, lifting the right side of her mouth and a hand on her hip.

I couldn’t remember a thing about Thomas as she strutted closer to me with a saucy little sway of her hips. I groaned at the sight. Did she have any idea the power she held over me? Could I even truly fathom it, or would it only sink in after she’d left me at the bottom of a pit made of my own despair?

Her hands and eyes caressed my chest and upper arms like I was a piece of meat as she backed us up against the aluminum siding of one of the other actor’s trailers. I’d never felt more objectified, and that was saying something, coming from me. All I wanted was for her to look me in the eyes – to want me – instead of the escape my body offered her. It felt wrong – dirty almost – and yet, when she leaned into me, I was helpless.

I wanted her…All of her, but I’d take any piece of her